Gorillaz: The Singles Collection: 2001 - 2011 Review

By the numbers collection of album singles unnesassary.

Who knew that a virtual band could have enough legs to deliver four studio albums? The latest compilation of Gorillaz work culls together the majority of the singles the Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett conceived band released thus far; ignoring "Revolving Doors" from, iPad opus, The Fall and "Rhinestone Eyes" off Plastic Beach. While the CD portion of the CD/DVD set unfortunately offers nothing new for die-hard fans to grab onto, it does serve as decent introduction for anyone whose catalog is sorely missing the band's works.

The album rolls straight through the band's catalog in order, save the two remixes closing things out, hitting the self-titled debut's four offerings immediately. The tracking is a bit rote, but does offer some insight into the artistic growth of their sound as they move from the hit-happy first album through 2010's more challenging, expansive Plastic Beach. The mellow accordion and melancholy strum of "Tomorrow Comes Today" works well with Albarn's matter-of-fact vocal delivery, but it is Del The Funky Homosapien on brassy, jazz-inspired hip-hop tune "Rock The House" and the methodically marching "Clint Eastwood" that really stand out. The blippy funk of dribbling keys making up "19-2000" appears twice, with the more lively, flushed-out Soulchild remix that closes the album proving superior to the original thanks to some wonderfully layered beats.

Things move into Demon Days territory with "Feel Good Inc". The energetic mash of smashed beats and a thick, rumbling bass groove bumping below Albarn's chilled vocals on the hazily sung hook and loosely flung acoustic guitar adds another layer of shimmer to the proceedings before De La Soul burst in to bounce over the beat for a verse. There is a dance vibe to the bubbly electro-pop of "DARE", but the airy falsetto vocals swelling into a children's choir on Dirty Harry" and give-and-take vocals against the shadowy backdrop of "Kids With Guns" find the band moving ever-so-slightly away from their poppy success.

Save the electric thump of the beat and swirling backdrop of "Stylo", where the nasal soul of Albarn somehow holds his own with Bobby Womack's snarling vocals and Mos Def's unique flow, the Plastic Beach offerings serve as evidence as to why the album did not match the overwhelming commercial success of the earlier two. The more densely layered production of pulsing, twitchy "Doncamatic" and washed-out sound of "On Melancholy Hill" play better as part of the whole album than when played out of context.

In the end, if you are somehow missing all of Gorillaz previous releases in your collection and are wondering whether or not to jump in, this is a fine place to start. For everyone else that already has all of these songs elsewhere or are simply missing one of the albums, they attempt to make up for the lack of audio surprises with the included DVD featuring videos and live concert versions of the tracks. It is a nice inclusion, but most fans would have preferred a couple of unreleased tracks to help ease the blow of the pricey set.